Transferring the functions of the Australian National Training Authority (A) 2008-73.1

On Friday 22 October 2004, Aurora Andruska, the Group Manager of the Vocational Education and Training Group, Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) was having lunch with two colleagues. They were discussing the newly re-elected government’s commitment of $1.2 billion in the vocational education and training (VET) system to address skills shortages. Their mobile phones rang simultaneously, advising them that the Prime Minister had just announced the abolition of the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) and the transfer of its functions to DEST. The Department had eight months to gain sufficient knowledge to manage the national training system, and Andruska’s immediate concern was that if the function was transferred to Canberra, many of ANTA’s Melbourne and Brisbane-based staff would not wish to relocate. Even if they could persuade some, the Department would still lose 12 years of expertise about the national training system.

The first part of this case looks at the establishment and funding of ANTA and the development of world-leading nationally consistent training standards.

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• part B of the case study explores the issues involved in transferring the roles and functions of a stand-alone agency to a large department (DEST), including transfer of formal and tacit knowledge. It can also be used to examine how the appropriate structure for delivery of a service can change over time.